Democrats have an early vote problem
Two weeks ago, we looked at initial early voting data compiled by the U.S. Election Project with the aim of sussing out how campaigns were doing at putting votes in the bank. At that point, it seemed like Democrats were doing particularly well in Iowa and North Carolina compared to voter registration numbers. Republicans were doing well in other battleground states.
Now, that's changed. Compared to overall voter registration, Iowa and North Carolina Democrats are doing much worse than earlier in the month, and Republicans in those states much better. We've also added new states that recently began early voting: Nevada, California and Colorado. In each, Republicans are outperforming Democrats.
How to read this: A red or blue dot above the diagonal line shows that the Republican (or, for a blue dot, Democratic) vote in the state comprises a larger percentage of the early vote than the total voter pool. A dot below the line indicates that the early vote is under-performing for that demographic. The further above or below the line the dot falls, the better or worse the group is faring. The change since the last time we did this is indicated with a line connected to the small dot at the previous percentage.
Interestingly, unaffiliated/undeclared voters are uniformly underperforming their registration numbers, perhaps in part because campaigns aren't targeting them as aggressively in the early vote process. But that puts the poor performance of Democratic campaigns in sharper relief. If unaffiliated voters are underperforming as a percentage of all of the votes that are in, one would expect the two parties to be overperforming.
But Democrats aren't. The bad news for them is clear: the extent to which the red dots are above the line and the blue dots are below it. In what we expect to be a relatively low-turnout election, Democrats would want (and really need) to leverage their generally superior turnout mechanisms to bank votes early. So far, they're getting beaten at that effort.
The bad news for Republicans is that as we mentioned two weeks ago these numbers can and will change quickly. As always, it's the trend that's worth watching, and while the red dots are mostly rising, they're falling in Florida and Maine. (In Georgia, where data areavailable in terms of the race of the voter, the number of black voters voting early is rising, which can be read as another good sign for Democrats, since they are a reliably Democratic constituency.)
The bottom line: Republicans are seeing what they want higher rates of turnout among their voters.
Philip Bump writes about politics for The Fix. He previously wrote for The Wire, the news blog of The Atlantic magazine. He has contributed to The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, The Daily, and the Huffington Post. Philip is based in New York City.
Read the original here:
Democrats have an early vote problem
- These Democrats Could Hold the Key to Ending the Shutdown - The New York Times - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Senate Democrats defy White House warnings, again block GOP bid to reopen government - Fox News - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Heated hallway confrontation between Senate Democrats and Speaker Johnson - CNN - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats introduce bill to help federal workers cover childcare costs during shutdown - The Guardian - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Despite Democrats Government Shutdown, ICE Continues to Arrest the Worst of the Worst Criminal Illegal Aliens Including Pedophiles, Human Smugglers... - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats to force vote to limit Trump war powers after strikes on Venezuelan boats - NPR - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats ramp up probe into Tom Homan bribery allegations - Axios - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Chairman Cole on Day Eight: Negotiations on Appropriations are Stalled until Democrats Face Reality and Reopen the Government - House Committee on... - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Colorado Democrats in Congress dig in on health care demands as government shutdown drags on - Post Independent - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Shutdowns serve as excuse for GOP and Democrats to spend more, says Sen. Ron Johnson - NPR - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Speaker Johnson: Reasonable Senate Democrats Must End the Shutdown Pain and Vote to Reopen the Government - Congressman Mike Johnson (.gov) - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Judiciary Democrats Press Trump-Vance Transition Team On Homan $50,000 Bribery Scandal: Who Knew About It, When Did They Know It, And Why Was Homan... - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- JB Pritzker Has Had it With Democrats Who Wont Stand Up to Trump - The New York Times - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- WATCH: Senate meets as Democrats demand extension of health care subsidies to end shutdown - PBS - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- A handful of Democrats could end the shutdown. No one's budging (yet). - USA Today - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Why Democrats are slow-walking their 2024 autopsy until after the November elections - The Washington Post - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats seize on conservative support as hope to end shutdown - Roll Call - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats call on Johnson to bring back House to pay troops - The Hill - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- ICYMI: On the Democrats Daily Blueprint, Somos Votantes Highlights the Importance of Supporting the Latino Community - Democrats - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Johnson: Democrats "playing games" as cracks form in GOP - CNN - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- LEADER JEFFRIES: "DEMOCRATS IN THE HOUSE AND DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE CONTINUE TO HOLD THE LINE FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" - Democratic Leader... - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats could have slight shot at winning House seat in Utah with new congressional map - PBS - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats are to blame for the shutdown. That's actually a good thing. | Opinion - USA Today - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats want health care tax credits to end the shutdown. Why the GOP says not yet. - USA Today - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Democrats Still Have No Idea What Went Wrong - The Atlantic - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Democrats are defying the conventional wisdom on government shutdowns - MSNBC News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- POLL: Americans Want Democrats to END Their Shutdown - The White House (.gov) - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Why Democrats Are Casting the Government Shutdown as a Health Care Showdown - KFF Health News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump calls on Democrats to reopen government, will then work on health care - The Hill - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Why Democrats are casting the government shutdown as a health care showdown - NPR - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Democrats see a path to flipping the crime debate - Politico - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Jeffries: Trump is not talking to Democrats about health care, ending shutdown - The Hill - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Worth the fight: Delaware congressional Democrats vow to stand firm on health care funding to reopen government - WHYY - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump Eyes Health Care Talks With Democrats to End Shutdown - Bloomberg.com - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Georgia Democrats rally around condemnation of Trump at their annual fundraising dinner - Georgia Public Broadcasting - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Speaker Johnson says its up to Democrats to stop the madness on shutdowns sixth day - thealpenanews.com - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump says he's open to striking deal with Democrats on extending health care subsidies - USA Today - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- CNU poll: Democrats poised for sweep but AG's race was closest of three before Jones' text messages revealed - Cardinal News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Can this faith-filled Texas progressive lead Democrats out of the wilderness? - National Catholic Reporter - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump Open to Healthcare Talks With Democrats to End Shutdown - The Wall Street Journal - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump says hes open to health care deal with Democrats as shutdown hits Day 6 - The Seattle Times - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Watch Shutdown: Trump Eyes Talks With Democrats on Health Care - Bloomberg.com - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump says hes open to health care deal with Democrats as shutdown hits Day 6 - KWTX - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- White House warns of 'pain' inflicted on Americans if Democrats don't reopen government - Fox News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Democrats are embracing the risky politics of a government shutdown to rein in president, activists say - The Guardian - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- To Win the Shutdown, Democrats Need a Big Switch - The American Prospect - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Susan Collins opposes Trump's shutdown layoff threats, but blames Democrats for the funding impasse - Maine Public - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- One win isnt enough for Democrats in this years governors races - Roll Call - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump Team Auditions 2026 Hopefuls to Save Agenda From Democrats - Bloomberg Government News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- US Senate rejects Democrats spending bill as government shutdown continues - Anadolu Ajans - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Democrats defiance on shutdown shows a new, tougher approach to Trump - The Washington Post - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Mamdani Is More Foe Than Friend in the Suburbs, Even Among Democrats - The New York Times - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Speaker Johnson to Democrats on Day Three of the Shutdown: Do Your Job, Reopen the Government, Then We Can Get Back to Work - Congressman Mike Johnson... - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Democrats Government Shutdown Will Not Slow ICE Down from Arresting the Worst of the Worst Including Pedophiles, Murderers and Human Traffickers -... - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- House Oversight Democrats call for investigation into Trump administrations shutdown messages - PBS - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Chairman Cole on Fox Business: Democrats Inflicted a Shutdown on America - House Committee on Appropriations (.gov) - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Does agency messaging blaming Democrats for government shutdown violate the Hatch Act? - Government Executive - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- How Democrats think they can win the shutdown - MSNBC News - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Democrats are doing more to resist Trump than their voters think - vox.com - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Don't believe the Democrats on health care fight, says Dan Crenshaw - Houston Chronicle - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Out-of-office messages blaming Democrats for shutdown sent on behalf of some federal workers without their consent - CNN - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- The blame game is on at federal agencies, where political messages fault Democrats for the shutdown - AP News - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Poll finds more Americans blame Trump, GOP for shutdown than Democrats - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Kennedy on Democrats government shutdown: I dont think Sen. Schumer is the person in charge - U.S. Senate (.gov) - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown - WIRED - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Democrats Accuse Administration of Cutting Spending at NASA and NOAA - AIP.ORG - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Trump Uses Shutdown to Maximize Pain for Democrats and Move Forward With Layoffs - The New York Times - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- The other reason Democrats are taking Trump to the mat in a shutdown battle - Politico - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats voted for a shutdown. Now they have to find a way out - AP News - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Government Shutdown Live Updates: Trump and Republicans' Deadlock With Democrats Drags On - The New York Times - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats got their shutdown, but they just gave Trump and DOGE a big win | Opinion - USA Today - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Maryland Democrats in Washington urge talks to end government shutdown - Maryland Matters - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- White House threat of new green cuts has Democrats seeing red - Politico - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats take the fight to Trump on government shutdown - Axios - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Government agencies are blaming the shutdown on Democrats. Ethics experts say it could be against the law. - Politico - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- At hearing, Democrats say the redistricting process was flawed from the start - KERA News - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Health care is key for Democrats in shutdown fight. Heres what to know. - The Washington Post - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Are Democrats or Republicans to blame for the looming government shutdown? Heres what our poll found - PBS - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Cruz posts video of Democrats wearing sombreros, cartoon mustaches - The Hill - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Democrats battling with GOP to avoid devastating health care cuts, Rep. Ivey says - PBS - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]